The Devil's Dominion

Magic and Religion in Early New England

By: Richard Godbeer

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Paperback | 13 June 1994

At a Glance

Paperback
268 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.55

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Early New Englanders used magical techniques to divine the future, to heal the sick, to protect against harm, and to inflict harm. Protestant ministers of the time claimed that religious faith and magical practice were incompatible, and yet, as Richard Godbeer shows in this book, there were significant affinities between the two that enabled layfolk to switch from one to the other without any immediate sense of wrongdoing. The Devil's Dominion examines the use of folk magic by ordinary men and women in early New England. The book describes in vivid detail the magical techniques used by settlers and the assumptions that underlay them. Godbeer argues that layfolk were generally far less consistent in their beliefs and actions than their ministers would have liked; even church members sometimes turned to magic. The Devil's Dominion reveals that the relationship between magical and religious belief was complex and ambivalent; some members of the community rejected magic altogether, but others did not. Godbeer also argues that the controversy surrounding astrological prediction in early New England paralleled clerical condemnation of magical practice and that the different perspectives on witchcraft engendered by magical tradition and Puritan doctrine often caused confusion and disagreement when New Englanders sought legal punishment of witches.

Industry Reviews

'Godbeer shows us that popular belief in magic underlay most accusations of witchcraft, even in the Salem epidemic, and he also shows that popular belief did not necessarily ascribe the efficacy of magic, and by consequence of witchcraft, to the devil.' Edmund S. Morgan, The New York Review of Books 'This short, crisply written book makes a major contribution to our understanding of magic and witchcraft in the culture of seventeenth-century New England. Amidst a plethora of American witchcraft studies, this one stands out for both the unusual topics included and for its provocative interpretations ... This is a remarkably intelligent and intelligible book that should be carefully read and considered by anyone interested in the religious and cultural history of early America.' Richard P. Gildrie, The Catholic Historical Review 'Godbeer gives a cogent analysis of the political and religious climate that led to the Salem outbreak, acknowledging other historians' extensive work in this area while presenting his own argument in the context of surviving folk practices.' Tides

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Religion & Beliefs Christianity Christian Churches, Denominations, Groups Church History History Earliest Times to Present Day Early Modern History from 1450 to 1700 Regional & National History History of the Americas Society & Culture Cultural Studies

History of Ideas Alternative Belief Systems Occult Studies

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
'Magical experiments': divining, healing and destroying in seventeenth-century New England
'The serpent that lies in the grass unseen': clerical and lay opposition to magic
'Entertaining Satan': sin, suffering, and countermagic
'Sinful curiosity': astrological discourse in early New England
'Insufficient grounds for conviction': witchcraft, the courts, and countermagic
'Rape of a whole colony': the 1692 witch-hunt
Epilogue
Appendices
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

The Devil's Dominion

Magic and Religion in Early New England

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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